And So It Begins
by Skipperdee
Summary: This is my idea of how the gang met. This is my first fanfiction, so I'm hoping it won't turn out too badly. Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

The sun shone brightly on the lush green soccer field at Kadic Academy, causing the players in the present game to squint and lose the ball in the sun- except one. Ulrich Stern didn't mind the sun. In fact, he didn't mind anything while he played soccer. Wind, rain, or shine, Ulrich could be found on the field practicing, whether alone or with the team, which may explain why Ulrich's grades were… less than stellar. Strange as it may seem, learning the quadratic formula or the history of the French Revolution didn't give Ulrich the rush that dodging his opponents and scoring did. While playing soccer, Ulrich was "in his mojo," and it showed. The star striker scored yet again in the final minute, leading Kadic to a 6-1 victory, and he walked off the field with a smile.

Seeing his parents, the brown haired boy quickened his pace and arrived at their side. His father grinned and clapped Ulrich on the back- he loved soccer too, and seeing his son perform well- nay, spectacularly- made the elder Stern happy like nothing else could. The Stern family walked away from the field, Ulrich and his father chattering incessantly about the game, rehashing and analyzing each play as though it were a matter of life and death. Mrs. Stern strolled quietly beside them, finally suggesting they head into town and eat.

Sitting at the table of their chosen restaurant, the conversation progressed much as it had outside: the Stern men discussing nothing but soccer, soccer, soccer, while Mrs. Stern said virtually nothing. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and she nudged her husband.

"Tell him," she hissed nodding her head towards her son.

Mr. Stern looked pained. He sighed, looked at his son, and said,

"Ulrich, we need to talk."

At this point, Ulrich groaned inwardly. "Ulrich we need to talk" usually, if not always, meant "Ulrich, you are in so much trouble."

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Yumi Ishiyama stood up and yawned, running a hand through her jet-black hair. Kadic Academy had just won yet another soccer game thanks to its star, Ulrich Stern. Big surprise. She filled out a notecard in her hand, the only reason she'd even come to the game. At Kadic, all students were required to attend a certain amount of school-sponsored activities, i.e., sporting events, dances, theatrical productions, etc., "to get students more involved in their school." Most of these events bored Yumi to tears, but the soccer games weren't so bad, thanks to the mad skill of their star player. Easily, they were ten times better than the theatre department's most recent rendition of The Sound of Music, starring the principal's own daughter. "Can you say _nepotism_?" Yumi'd thought. Luckily, she'd thought in advance to bring headphones, so she hadn't really watched the musical, but anything was better than watching Sissi Delmas get up and attempt to sing. It didn't hurt that the soccer team's star player, Ulrich Stern, was a total hottie with perfectly messy hair, beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and an adorable little half-smile. Yumi blushed and shook her head to clear the thought. It was unbelievably shallow. "I sound like one of those stupid fan-girls." The mere thought of likening herself to someone like Sissi Delmas, Ulrich #1 fan, made Yumi cringe. Yumi had many dreams and goals for the future, and to be an Ulrich Stern fan-girl was not one of them.

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Only a handful of Kadic students ever missed a home soccer game. Most were in the infirmary and thus not missing by matter of choice. Jeremie Belpois was one of the few who intentionally did not attend. Instead, he sat at his computer, as he did every day for hours upon end. His parents encouraged him to go out more, make some friends, but he didn't. He couldn't. Jeremie was living proof that sitting in front of a computer all day wouldn't give you people skills. He was painfully shy. So instead of going out with friends and having fun, Jeremie stayed inside and studied. Being quite sharp to begin with, Jeremie's studies had molded him into a certifiable genius.

Sadly, this only earned him the "nerd" label at Kadic, or "teacher's pet" if his branders were feeling generous. As such, Jeremie had exactly one friend, Yumi Ishiyama. Yumi was a grade ahead of Jeremie, but since he was so advanced, he shared some classes with her anyway. Yumi and Jeremie laughingly referred to themselves as "untouchables," a.k.a. "people you shouldn't talk to if you care at all about your popularity." Truthfully, Jeremie felt sorry for Yumi. He knew he was a nerd, and accepted it. He'd be the boss of half these people some day anyway, and they'd "get theirs" then. But Yumi was a really fun girl, and deserved to have more friends than she did. The only reason she wasn't more popular was because people had wrongly assumed she was Gothic when in fact she wasn't. She wore black at all times, true, but ask her about it and she'd smile sadly and tell you she was in mourning. Jeremie wasn't sure what she mourned. Possibly she mourned for her generation, like American music legend Johnny Cash (The Man in Black), but Jeremie suspected it was something more personal.

Regardless, Jeremie enjoyed her company. He didn't care how she dressed- he didn't even care how he himself dressed, usually choosing to wear his much-needed coke-bottle glasses, blue turtleneck, khaki pants (Yumi called them high waters because they were an inch or two too short) and plain shoes. Rather nondescript, just the way Jeremie preferred. He didn't like a lot of attention, believing it only attracted trouble. Thus far he'd avoided bullies for the most part, and he wanted to keep it that way. Jeremie's only wishes were to write a computer program or two, hang with Yumi now and again- strength in numbers, right?- and wait for graduation so he could escape.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Code Lyoko. It'd be totally cool if I did though.**

"Mom, I'm home!" Yumi called out. Kadic Academy was a boarding school, but Yumi was a day student since her family lived so close.

"Hi, sweetie," her mom replied, coming in from the kitchen to greet her. "How was the game?"

"Fine. We won. More importantly, I filled out the card saying I went, and I only have to attend four more events this semester."

"Well, that's wonderful, darling! Just don't forget to turn it in, or you won't receive any credit for going. Your father should be home in about 15 minutes, so go ahead and wash up for dinner," Mrs. Ishiyama said.

Yumi nodded in compliance and climbed the stairs, entering her bedroom and flopping down on the bed. She glanced around, not really thinking about anything. The room was that of a typical teenaged girl: a poster of Yumi's favorite band adorned the wall next to her dresser; clothing littered the floor, and she had schoolbooks and papers scattered here and there in a general disarray. On the wall above Yumi's bed hung a bulletin board to which many pictures of Yumi's friends and family were tacked. Yumi had lived in France for three years now, but she still missed Japan as if she'd left only yesterday. The pictures helped ease her loss. Yumi's eyes fell on a picture in the center of the board, one that by its position and size signified its prominence. The picture showed Yumi tightly embracing an older boy as they both beamed at the camera. Yumi closed her eyes.

The boy was what Yumi missed most about Japan. It was her brother, Kisho. He and Yumi had been extremely close, telling each other everything. Kisho had never seen Yumi as the bratty kid sister, and didn't act like a jerk who just couldn't be bothered with her problems, no matter how trivial. Yumi had adored him.

But Kisho was gone now. At the age of just fifteen, Kisho became a statistic, the unfortunate victim of a terrorist bombing of one of Japan's train systems, when Yumi was only ten. Kisho had been on his way home from buying a birthday gift for her, and Yumi blamed herself for his death. She began wearing black clothing every day as an expression of her sorrow, and though her parents normally would have objected, they said nothing in respect of their daughter's heartache. Soon after Kisho's death, the Ishiyamas moved to France. It seemed to Yumi that her parents were trying to escape Kisho's memory, though it was never discussed.

Kisho had been fiercely patriotic. He loved everything about his culture. "We Japanese are unique, Yumi. We've got this amazing balance between our history and our future, and while we'll never forget our past, we don't let it hold us back and keep us from progressing. We won't be stuck in time," he'd once told her. Yumi smiled bitterly at the irony. Kisho would never get to grow up. He would be stuck in time, caught, like a fish in a net with no escape, unable to move forward or return to how he'd been. Yumi brushed away the tears that had gathered in her eyes, and stood up to leave. But before she exited the room, she glanced up at the picture again.

"I love you, Kisho," she whispered.

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"Ulrich," Mr. Stern pressed on.

_Watch him start talking about my grades_, Ulrich thought

"Your mother and I a bit concerned about your grades."

_Oooh! Did I not just call that?_

Ulrich's mother stepped in. "Sweetie, I know you're busy with soccer, but this is really unacceptable. You're failing math, and nearly failing half your other classes, with the exception of gym!"

Ulrich didn't know what to say.

"Soccer is an extra curricular activity. Academics need to come first. I'm sorry Ulrich, but unless your grades improve, I'm afraid we'll have to take you off the team."

Ulrich promptly found his voice.

"_WHAT_?" he shouted, jumping out of his seat. "You can't do that!"

"I can, and I will, Ulrich, if that's what it takes."

Ulrich looked furiously from his father to his mother. Mrs. Stern met the gaze head on, but Mr. Stern couldn't, and stared down at his hands. Ulrich kicked the chair in anger and moved to leave but his mother caught his arm.

"Honey, I know this is hard, but it's for the best. I'm sure you can get one of your friends to tutor you. This won't be a problem; I know you'll get those grades right up. Now please sit down, sweetie, let's finish our nice meal."

Ulrich sat and crossed his arms, his mouth set in a tight, angry line. The conversation for the rest of the dinner was forced, limited, and uncomfortable, not extending much past "Looks like it's going to rain. "Yup."" All parties were extremely glad when it finally ended.

The next day at school, Ulrich was determined to learn and catch up. Soccer was his life; no way could he give it up. But he soon realized that he was so far behind, it was hopeless. Ulrich sulked about this for awhile, then thought back on his mother's tutoring suggestion. Ulrich, figuring he had nothing to lose, set his sights on finding a tutor. He scouted the entire grade and marveled at the sheer number of people he didn't even know. Finally, he narrowed it down to two people: pimply Herb Pichnon, or the equally nerdy computer whiz, Jeremie Belpois. Ulrich had never spoken a single word to either of them; neither were in his circle of friends (a.k.a., the soccer team), but Ulrich knew it had to be one of them after math class that day.

_Flashback_

"Here you are, Jeremie, nice work," Mrs. Giles, the math instructor said. The blonde boy accepted the test she handed him- virtually unmarked, except for the big red 100 at the top. Jeremie didn't look surprised, just tucked it into his bag as Ulrich stared jealously.

_Why can't that be me?_

"Herb, also very nice," Mrs. Giles said, handing the acne prone boy a test identical to Jeremie's. Herb smiled satisfactorily at his 100, and Ulrich's heart sank lower. Mrs. Giles came closer to him.

"Ulrich, I'd like to speak with you after class," she said softly, laying his test face down in front of him. Ulrich lifted the edge of his test nervously, as though he thought it might be a bomb.

_Ouch._

It looked as though an inkpen had exploded on his test. Checkmarks scattered the pages, along with notes detailing where Ulrich's thought processes had gone wrong. But what stuck out the most was the glaring red 36 at the top of the paper near his name. He groaned. If Jeremie or Herb couldn't save him, Ulrich was sunk.

Ulrich decided to try Jeremie first, as Herb ran around with (and had a huge crush on) Sissi Delmas, the most persistent and most irritating fan-girl of them all. As far as Ulrich knew, Jeremie had no friends. He'd talk to him at lunch.

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**Author's note: **In case you're wondering where in the heck Odd is, fear not! I didn't forget him. I have decided to go by what I know of the Garage Kids pilot, and I think in that he didn't come in till later, so that's what's going on there. Please review, I am desperate for advice on how to improve this! Skipperdee


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Co****de Lyoko**

Jeremie sat down at a table in the cafeteria. He set his lunch to the side and quickly set up his laptop. Currently, his project was trying to hack into the school's main computer system to chance his schedule and get him out of gym forever. Jeremie didn't anticipate this being a hard task and looked forward to the days in the near future when he could sit inside in the air-conditioning, maybe sipping a nice lemonade, while all his peers sweated buckets as they ran laps around the school's track. Jeremie snickered.

He soon became aware of a figure standing in front of him and he looked up, expecting to see Yumi. But instead of his friend's smiling face, Jeremie's eyes came into contact with the big man on campus himself, none other than Ulrich Stern.

_ Crap,_ Jeremie thought immediately. His perfect record of bully-avoidance now came to a screeching halt. Granted, most of what Jeremie knew of Ulrich came from his reputation as a soccer player, but he knew of Ulrich's poor academic history. That said, Jeremie figured it more likely that Ulrich had come to beat him into doing his homework than it was for Ulrich to extend his hand in an offer of friendship. Jeremie was only surprised that Ulrich didn't have a couple of thugs accompanying him so they could beat Jeremie up, thus eliminating any chance that Ulrich might get hurt and be unable to play soccer. Perhaps he pegged Jeremie as such a weakling that he could take him down while posing no danger to himself. Jeremie glanced at Ulrich's biceps, visible beneath the sleeves of his unbuttoned green shirt, and gulped. He was right.

"Hey," Ulrich said.

"Hey…" Jeremie replied guardedly.

"Alright if I sit?"

Jeremie shrugged noncommittally, which Ulrich took as a yes. Jeremie stared at him, computer project momentarily forgotten. He prepared himself to run like the dickens if need be, not that it would help. Why, oh why couldn't Ulrich have been a sumo wrestler?

Ulrich cleared his throat.

"So, uh, you like computers?" he asked. Jeremie mentally rolled his eyes at Ulrich's lame attempt at conversation.

"Yes," he answered, still watching Ulrich carefully, unsure of his motives.

"That's cool…" Ulrich said. There was an awkward pause. Ulrich sighed and tapped his fingers on the table, looking around idly.

"Cut to the chase, Stern," Jeremie said, and immediately resisted the urge to clap his hand over his mouth in horror. Had he really just said that to the most popular boy in school?

Apparently so, as Ulrich's eyes shot back to Jeremie's in surprise. He flashed that little half-smile that made all the girls swoon, seeming to laugh a little.

"Okay,well, here's the deal. I'm not doing so hot in school and my parents are threatening to take me off the team unless I shape up. I need a tutor and you're the smartest kid in school."

"Well, I'm flattered, Ulrich. Which classes do you need help in?"

Ulrich had the grace to look a bit sheepish.

"All of them." He flashed that little half smile again. Jeremie pondered this for a moment, and his thoughts conflicted inside his head as he examined both sides of the issue.

_ Is he for real? No, he can't be. This is impossible. Why wouldn't he just get one of his friends to help him? He must be tricking me. Or maybe not and his friends just aren't very smart. He's probably tricking me. But then again, I've heard he's a pretty nice guy. And why would he pick on me? Probably because I'm a nerd. This is probably one of those Stephen King "Carrie" things. And I won't even be able to get back at him. But what if he isn't pranking me? If Mom and Dad ever found out someone asked me to tutor them and I turned them down, they'd flip. They already think I'm anti-social._ Jeremie didn't know what to do.

"Is this some sort of joke?" he asked Ulrich, who was currently staring at him earnestly.

Ulrich's brows then furrowed as a look of confusion passed over his tanned face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Jeremie said slowly as though he were speaking to a very young child, "you're not trying to… I don't know, pour pig blood on me, or shove me in a locker or anything, are you? You seriously want my help?"

"Of course," Ulrich said honestly, still appearing perplexed by Jeremie's questions. Jeremie paused, then took a chance and banked on what seemed to be sincerity.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Ulrich looked genuinely shocked, but nonetheless pleased. Obviously he'd expected more of a fight from Jeremie, especially after receiving the "3rd degree."

"Really? That's it?"

"Yeah," Jeremie replied. "My parents have been getting on my case lately to get out more and not spend so much time by myself. Now I can say that I am."

Ulrich smiled again.

"Okay, well… cool. When can we start?"

Jeremie looked at his watch.

"Right now." Jeremie closed his laptop. "I need to go put some stuff in my dorm. Meet me in the library in 10 minutes."

"Got it," Ulrich said, moving to leave. Five seconds later, he came back, again looking chagrined. "Umm, Jeremie?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the library?"

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This was a filler chapter, and I know it wasn't that great. But it was at least a little important. Yes, I know, corny ending, etc, etc. These things wouldn't happen if more people would review…(hint, hint) To my two people who have reviewed so far (at the time I am writing this): xOxshortyxOx and Limited Heart, thank you. Skipperdee


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Code Lyoko. Oh and also in case you didn't know, the italicized words are the person's thoughts. Not mine, the character's.**

Ulrich walked into the cafeteria. For whatever reason, it had been a good day, and Ulrich smiled a little at his random good mood. He received his food and made his way over to Jeremie's table. His brown eyes took in Jeremie hunched over his laptop, like always, and Ulrich smiled again. But his gait slowed at the sight of a striking Asian girl reading over Jeremie's shoulder, occasionally pointing at something on the screen.

_Who's she?_ he wondered. Again, Ulrich registered amazement at how few people he knew in his school.

Jeremie looked up and waved him over. Ulrich resumed his pace and sat down across from Jeremie and his mysterious companion. She smiled in a friendly way and he tried to smile back, but his mouth didn't seem to be working correctly.

Ulrich blushed at his sudden nervousness, but then reasoned with himself. _She's so pretty,_ he thought, _and what guy doesn't get nervous around pretty girls?_ He felt marginally better, and tried again to smile, having slightly more success this time around.

"Hey Ulrich," Jeremie greeted him.

"Hey," Ulrich said, eyes still on Jeremie's beautiful friend.

"Say," Jeremie went on, "do you know Yumi?" He gestured to the girl, who smiled again.Ulrich's tongue felt as thought it was glued to the roof of his mouth. He swallowed. Ulrich was fairly shy to begin with, but this girl wasn't helping him out any. She was incredibly beautiful, and it intimidated him.

"Ummm, uh I umm… I … I d-don't think so," he managed to get out. Inwardly, he groaned. _Smooth, Ulrich. Real smooth. _Suddenly, randomly, the Adam Sandler movie "Billy Madison" popped to his mind- _"T-t-today, Junior!"_ And Ulrich's heart sank lower. _Ulrich, you idiot,_ he thought.

The girl just continued to smile- _She's laughing at me,_ Ulrich thought- then shook her head.

"No, I don't think we've met either. I'm Yumi Ishiyama." She held out her hand.

Ulrich stared at her outstretched hand stupidly for awhile, and would have continued if Jeremie hadn't kicked his shin beneath the table to startle him out of his dazed state. Ulrich realized then that Yumi- _that's a pretty name-_ meant to shake his hand, and he jerked his hand up to meet hers, knocking over his milk carton in the process. _Of course_. Yumi just smiled and laughed, and Jeremie joined her. Ulrich, unable to quit staring, noticed that while Yumi's mouth was stretched into a wide grin, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. He briefly wondered what was bothering her but then she spoke and scrambled his thoughts.

"You know," Yumi remarked jokingly, "for a soccer player, you're not very coordinated."

Ulrich blushed again, and tried to think of something to say. Something… anything… Ulrich racked his brains, and before he could stop himself, his mouth opened.

"Feet," he said. That was all. Just "feet." At this point Ulrich was mentally banging his head against a wall. _Ulrich, you idiot! What are you doing? "Feet"! What the heck was that? Just shut up! It's impossible to say anything stupid if you don't talk!_ Ulrich silently vowed never to speak again in Yumi's presence.

Yumi and Jeremie stared at the brown haired boy in utter confusion, until finally Yumi nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You don't really need your hands for anything, since you're not a goalie. But I bet your "foot-eye" coordination is really good, am I right?" she said.

Ulrich just nodded dumbly. _How did I escape that?_

Lunch proceeded without any further drama. Ulrich remained mute, but nodded or shook his head, smiled, glared, and used various other forms of communication to try and hold up his end of the conversation. Yumi and Jeremie were obviously close- like brother and sister, Ulrich noted- and the conversation flowed more easily in her presence than when it was just quiet Jeremie and quiet Ulrich. Yumi directed a good portion of chitchat at Ulrich, though he made no response in words. She revealed that she was in grade nine, the one above Ulrich, and that she was a day student who'd moved to France from Japan two years ago, though she didn't disclose the circumstances. By the time lunch ended, Yumi's amiable personality had put Ulrich so at ease that he was fully ready to break his vow of silence. He even felt that he might be able to talk to Yumi without sounding like a stuttering idiot. _Well, maybe, _he thought.

The three parted ways at the sound of the bell, and smiling, Ulrich walked back to his dorm for a half-hour before his next class began. He thought back on his lunch period. Something about Yumi seemed familiar, but Ulrich just couldn't put his finger on it. Then it hit him- Yumi was "that freaky Goth girl," as Sissi Delmas put it. Ulrich shook his head. Sissi and all her friends were probably insanely jealous. He'd once heard Sissi making ninja comments about Yumi, most likely referencing Yumi's all-black attire combined with her heritage and Ulrich laughed out loud. Just because Yumi could kick Sissi's butt to kingdom come any day of the week didn't make her a ninja. _No more than being a struggling-in-school, talented soccer player makes me_ _David Beckham_.

Personally, Ulrich liked Yumi's style of dress. The downplayed black didn't compete with Yumi's physical beauty and didn't draw attention away from the main event. Ulrich shook his head and blushed again. He'd just met the girl, and already he was forming opinions on her clothing choices like an obsessive stalker.

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After tutoring Ulrich for 3 weeks, Jeremie was surprised to find himself actually liking the soccer star. Contrary to what he'd always believed, not all popular kids were egotistical jerks. Ulrich, as a matter of fact, was quite modest and pretty shy until he and Jeremie got to know each other better. He was fairly quiet, always appearing to be dwelling on something or other, and as Ulrich didn't seem inclined to share whatever it was, Jeremie didn't press him.

Luckily, Ulrich had an amazing work ethic, undoubtedly left over from his soccer training. Not always did things immediately "click" in his brain, but Ulrich practiced with Jeremie's guidance again and again until he understood what he was doing. One night, he forced Jeremie to drill him on the FOIL method until Ulrich could practically do it in his sleep.

_ He's really not stupid,_ Jeremie thought, _he just needs someone to point him in the right direction._

Indeed, Ulrich made Jeremie's job easy, and Jeremie didn't mind tutoring him a bit. He'd never realized how lonely he'd been only hanging out with Yumi. Ulrich said hi to Jeremie everyday in class and when ever they passed each other around campus, and he'd even begun sitting with him at lunch, though Jeremie wondered if that had more to do with Yumi's presence than his own. Jeremie didn't mind either way; he was just happy to have another friend.

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Ok so, that's another chapter completed. Hopefully this isn't out of character and doesn't have crappy dialogue- I'm terrible with dialogue, but I try my best. If you have any suggestions, feedback, etc, etc, please review, I really appreciate it. To the people who have reviewed so far, now including Angels 'n Dreams, thank you! Skipperdee


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Code Lyoko**

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"100, Jeremie, no surprise there. Herb, very close, 99. I took off a point on #18. You didn't simplify the square root far enough, it should've been 3sqrt.6."

Herb scowled.

"…Sissi, 57, see me after class, please. Heidi, 91, very good."

Ulrich's stomach flip-flopped nervously. Under Jeremie's tutelage, he'd raised his F in math to a C-, but according to Jeremie, Ulrich's test grades could make or break his chance to play soccer. Ms. Giles, the math instructor, came closer to him, test in hand. Closer… closer… any second now…

_She's smiling. That's good, right? Or is that a pity smile? An "Oh-I'm-so-sorry-that-you're-terrible-at-math-and-can-never-play-soccer-again" smile?_

A prickly feeling began spreading through Ulrich's fingers and he realized that he was clenching his desk in a death-grip. His knuckles were white and plagued with shooting pains, but Ulrich couldn't seem to let go. Ms. Giles was just 3 feet away.

"83, Ulrich, that's fantastic. Your progress in this class is really amazing, just spectacular. Keep up the good work," she said, handing the elated boy his test.

_83…83…83! Oh my god! YESSSSSS! YES YES YES! OH MY GOD!_

Ulrich fought off the urge to jump out of his seat and scream in his euphoria. He did, however, excitedly flash the score at Jeremie, who grinned and gave him the thumbs-up sign.

The bell ran. Ulrich sprinted toward Jeremie and the two friends high-fived. They exited the building and met up with Yumi, who immediately noticed that the normally reserved Ulrich seemed more excited than usual.

"Ulrich, what's up? You look really happy!" she said with a smile.

The boy said nothing, just pulled out his test and showed her proudly, brown eyes shining.

"83! Ulrich, that's incredible!" Yumi exclaimed. She hugged him before she even realized what she was doing. She, Ulrich, and Jeremie had been hanging out a lot lately and Yumi considered the two boys her best friends. Best friends hug, right?

Ulrich didn't seem to mind the hug, though he blushed when Jeremie smirked.

Yumi brushed this off.

"Well, boys, no more classes today, and none tomorrow. Do you two have anything you want to do?" she asked.

"Soccer," Ulrich responded immediately.

The girl laughed and rolled her dark eyes before punching him playfully. "Why do I even ask you?" she said. Ulrich grinned.

"What about you, Jer?" Yumi asked the blonde boy.

"I'm still trying to change my schedule," came the reply.

"You know, Jeremie, gym won't kill you. It'd do you good to get out more, get some fresh air. I'm surprised the sunlight doesn't kill you as it is; you're never outside," Ulrich remarked.

Suddenly, Jeremie dropped all his schoolbooks and began stumbling around, arms straight out. Yumi and Ulrich glanced at each other in confusion.

"Yumi?" Jeremie said, sounding pitiful. "Ulrich? Wha… What is this bright light?"

Jeremie moved his arms about frantically, appearing to try and make contact with something.

"Help! It's… it's burning me! It hurts! Yumi! Ulrich! I… I can't see! I CAN'T SEE! I'M BLIND!" he screamed as Yumi and Ulrich fell into each other, cracking up. Jeremie grinned, dropped the act, and bent to pick up his schoolbooks.

Suppressing another giggle, Yumi wiped a tear of laughter from her eye.

"Let's go into town tonight. Catch a movie or something. It'll be fun," she said.

"What? …But…soccer…" Ulrich tried to protest.

"Come on," Yumi said teasingly as she walked backwards in front of her two friends. "You know you want to."

Ulrich couldn't deny this and still consider himself an honest person. He looked to Jeremie, who said, "I guess we could do that other stuff tomorrow." Ulrich nodded and the boys turned back to Yumi.

"Ok, you're on," Jeremie said.

Yumi smiled in triumph and the trio walked to town, ignoring the hiss of Ulrich's passing fan-girls.

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**Ok, filler chapter. I promise to update soon. Like, tomorrow even. Maybe Odd will even show up tomorrow. Hmm. I haven't decided yet. Most likely. Well, that's all I have to say. Anything _you_ would like to say can easily be conveyed to me via that lovely button near the bottom of your screen marked "Submit a review--> Go" and all of it would be much appreciated by me (hint, hint). Happy Easter, Passover (which I think is over… oops.) Spring break, and if none of this applies to you, happy weekend. -Skipperdee **


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Code Lyoko.**

Author's notes are in parenthesis, they are numbered, and you will find the corresponding # at the bottom of the page. But I think you all are smart enough to have figured that out.

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To the untrained eyed, Kadic Academy looked like any normal boarding school. But to Odd Della Robbia, it looked like an opportunity. He quickly noted the lax security and the freedom Kadic students enjoyed. Odd would've rubbed his hands together in anticipation, but at that moment Kadic's principal Jean-Pierre Delmas chose to appear in front of Odd and his parents, and Odd didn't want to have to explain himself in his first five minutes at Kadic.

_Although,_ he thought,_ that would be a new record. It usually takes me at least a day to get in trouble._

"Good afternoon!" Principal Delmas said as he neared the Della Robbias. "It's so nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Della Robbia, Odd. We here at Kadic are very pleased to be welcoming Odd to school. We think it will be a good fit." He smiled down at Odd.

Mrs. Della Robbia smiled and laid a hand on Odd's shoulder. "I hope so," she said. "Odd isn't very happy about leaning his old school and friends."

Again, Mr. Delmas smiled pleasantly at Odd. "Well, I'm sure you'll make new friends soon enough. We've given you a roommate, so maybe he can show you around and introduce you to people. Do you have your things? I can show you your dorm room now, if you'd like."

Odd nodded mutely, not really paying attention at this point. He'd never had trouble making friends before and didn't plan to start now.

A prankster/comedian by nature, Odd's class clown persona garnered him a lot of attention. "Attention-seeker" was practically his middle name. He loved having all eyes on him-thrived in it, even, and he was open to all sorts of attention, good or bad, as long as people noticed him. Odd especially loved it when the attention came from members of the fairer sex- he'd been called a womanizer more than once. Odd disliked his small stature, but he realized that if he were 6'6" and 260 lbs., it would be pretty hard to run away when one of his "girlfriend's" boyfriends chased after him in a jealous rage.

_Then again_, he thought,_ if I was 6'6" and 260 lbs., no one would be chasing me in the first place, because I could kick the crap out of them._

Odd's father prodded him and Odd snapped back to reality. "Who did you say I'm rooming with?" he asked Principal Delmas.

"His name's Ulrich Stern. I'm sure you two will get along just wonderfully. My daughter Sissi thinks very highly of him." the man said.

"Ulrich Stern. Well, he just sounds more fun than a barrel of monkeys," Odd murmured. He quickly became distracted by a passing blonde girl, at whom he smiled and winked. She giggled and blushed, and Odd grinned satisfactorily.

_Still got it._

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ulrich had long known that he would soon be sharing his dorm room with a complete stranger and he wasn't happy about it. If he had to room with anyone, he'd want it to be Jeremie.

_You can't have everything, I guess._

Hopefully this guy wouldn't be obnoxious and stay up till 4 AM playing video games or blaring his music.

_Oh god. What if he blares his music and it's something weird? Like opera! What if he likes opera? I can't live with opera. Calm down, Ulrich. Practically nobody likes opera. He probably likes rap or something. But I don't like rap either. That's almost as bad as opera. _(1)

Glancing at his watch, Ulrich realized his new roommate should have arrived within the past hour. He supposed he ought to go and meet him, but Ulrich kept trying to find excuses to put it off. He was coming up empty. Still, Ulrich continued to amble aimlessly about the campus.

_I'm so bored._

Ulrich was alone for the afternoon. Jeremie and Yumi were studying together for an upcoming test in one of their classes, and Ulrich's homework was completely finished. And, to tell the truth, the thought of more schoolwork made Ulrich physically ill.

_I know, _he thought,_ I'll head over to the soccer field and kick around the ball a bit, brush up on my technique._ He then realized with a pang that his ball was… in his room._ Of course._

The brown haired boy sighed in resignation. _Might as well get it over with,_ he thought. He shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged slowly back to his dorm.

Odd flopped onto his bed- the one he assumed to be his, as it was the only one of two in the room lacking rumpled bed sheets on top of it. He stretched out like a cat and put his hands behind his head.

_Not much of a room_, he thought, noting the mostly bare walls. Above the other bed hung a poster saying something about Penchak Silat, (2) which Odd had never heard of.

_Must be some band._ Odd didn't know what to think about this Ulrich kid. Junk scattered the floor of the room, dirty clothes, school supplies, etc, but none of it gave much clue as to what kind of person he was. _Jock, nerd, bully, skater, druggie…_Odd had no idea. Suddenly he got a brilliant idea and he hopped off his bed. His parents had left 10 or so minutes ago, and Odd figured Ulrich wouldn't come knocking anytime soon, so he walked to the closet. Flinging open the doors, the blonde boy grinned at the sight of his new roomie's wardrobe. _Bingo._

Odd sifted through the outfits. _Well, he likes green, that's for sure, _he thought after coming across dozens of green shirts and green pairs of pants. There was also a blue muscle shirt (3) with matching blue pants, reminding Odd of the sort of clothing the attendees of his mother's yoga class wore. He briefly wondered if Ulrich did yoga before coming across a red and blue Kadic Academy soccer uniform. At that moment, just by coincidence, a soccer ball rolled out of the closet.

_Soccer ball + soccer uniform equals soccer player. Soccer player equals jock. Mystery solved. _Odd smiled. Just then a door opened behind him and Odd whirled around to come face to face with a tall brown haired boy who didn't look very happy to see him.

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_What the-!_ Ulrich walked into his room to find a short, skinny blonde boy with blonde hair spiked up and back for a total of at least 4 and Ulrich was guessing closer to 6 inches in height, rifling through his closet. The boy spun around in shock and he opened his mouth. A brief silence followed, then,

"Ever heard of knocking?"

Ulrich bristled.

"I live here, thanks," he spat. "Were you going through my stuff?"

The answer was obviously, and the boy, realizing he was caught, didn't even bother trying to lie.

"Well, yes, but-."

"What the heck!" Ulrich shouted. "You don't just come into a strange room and start going through people's stuff without permission! What's your problem?"

"You have a nasty temper," the boy informed him as he walked over toward his suitcase. "I'm Odd Della Robbia, by the way," he said over his shoulder.

Ulrich just stared. "Don't change the subject on me. Why were you going through my stuff?"

The boy- Odd- turned around. "I wasn't going to steal anything, I swear. I just wanted to know what you were like, since, you know, you didn't come to meet me or anything." He stared at Ulrich with big pitiful puppy dog eyes, then batted his eyelashes, and burst out laughing. Ulrich cracked a smile.

"Yeah… sorry 'bout that. I'm Ulrich Stern."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that when you said you lived here," Odd said as he unzipped his suitcase. Opening it, he stepped aside. Ulrich's eyes widened as a purple shirt jumped out of the suitcase and began skipping about excitedly on Odd's bed.

"Quit messing around, Kiwi. Say hi to Ulrich," Odd said, pulling on the shirt to reveal a small, bull-terrier type dog- _Kiwi_, Ulrich realized.

Odd picked up the squirming dog. "This is Kiwi," Odd said, grinning and placing his head with the sky-high hair- which had a purple spot in the center, matching Odd's all-purple attire- next to Kiwi's small head. Kiwi barked happily and Ulrich's head snapped back toward the open door.

"Hey, make him be quiet, will you?" Ulrich said. "Someone's gonna hear him and then we'll all be in for it."

Odd made a face. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, Ulrich. It'll be fine." He set Kiwi down and began pulling chew toys, various articles of clothing, a mobile phone, and some sketchpads and pencils out of his suitcase.

"I'm serious. If Jim finds Kiwi, he'll take him to a shelter and the two of us will have detention for a month!"

Odd turned back to Ulrich, unfazed by this bit of news. "Well, I guess we'll just have to hide him good, then, won't we?"

Ulrich glared at him. "Quit being so selfish. I don't want detention. Why'd you bring him anyway?"

"Well," Odd replied, walking over to his dresser and opening up one of the empty drawers, "I love Kiwi, and I didn't want to leave him. Besides, my parents won't take care of him. They'd forget to feed him and walk him and take him out when he needs to- well, you know. He'd get lonely. Please forgive me for having compassion towards animals." He took towels and blankets and lined the drawer with them. "And how ironic is it that you're calling me selfish when you're the one standing there going "Oh, I don't want to get detention" without giving the least regard to the feelings of me or my dog?" He turned and looked pointedly at Ulrich.

Ulrich met his gaze, not at all intimidated. "Don't play the shame game with me, jerk."

Suddenly Odd grinned. Ulrich, however, was still angry.

"What are you smiling at?" he snapped.

Odd just kept grinning idiotically then opened his mouth.

"A jerk is a tug, a tug is a boat, a boat sails on water, water is nature, and nature is beautiful. Thanks for the compliment," he said.

Ulrich just stared, dumbfounded. "Whatever," he said finally, shaking his head. "I'm going to dinner."

Odd leapt forward. "I'll come with you."

"Oh… uh… don't you have to unpack?" Ulrich asked, not really wanting the boy's company.

"Nah, I'm practically done. Besides, I'm starving. Lead on, captain," he said, pointing at the door. Ulrich grinned and rolled his eyes as Odd very seriously stood at attention and saluted his roommate.

"At ease, soldier," Ulrich said, and he walked out the door.

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Odd shouted as he ran after Ulrich. "Now where's that cafeteria?"

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**Yay, Odd has officially arrived! **

**1) Ok if you like opera, I am not being mean. I think opera singers are very talented people, but I don't think Ulrich seems like a very opera-type guy. I have nothing against rap either, but again, Ulrich and rap… I just don't see it. I see him as more of a rock & roller, if you know what I mean.**

**2) This poster really truly exists, I saw it in the episode "Just in Time"**

**3) A muscle shirt is like a tank top, only for boys. I call it a muscle shirt, because tank tops sound girly to me. Just to me. Probably not to anyone else.**

**I told you I would update today! I made it; it is 9:13. (Central Standard Time, if you are not in my time zone, this is not my fault) Okay well, please, review, I will love you forever, unless you tell me not to. To the 5 people who have reviewed, thank you so much. Over and out -Skipperdee**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Code Lyoko**

Odd kept up the chatter all the way to the dining hall. Gradually, Ulrich began to open up and talk a bit more about himself.

_I think I'm growing on him,_ Odd said to himself.

Ulrich crossed a very green plaza, Odd right on his heels, and pushed open the doors to a large, white, one-story building. Odd followed and immediately found himself in Kadic's heaven. The scent of food lingered in the air-

"Meatballs!" Odd shouted and he shoved past Ulrich to get in line.

--------------------------- Jeremie's table --------------------------------------

Jeremie nudged Yumi. "Who's that weird kid with Ulrich?"

Yumi glanced in the direction Jeremie pointed to just in time to see Ulrich stumble after a short and skinny blonde boy dressed all in purple and shouting "Meatballs!" jostled him roughly.

She smiled. "Dunno, but it looks like he likes meatballs."

"And purple," Jeremie remarked.

------------------------ With Ulrich and Odd -------------------------------

Ulrich stared straight ahead, desperately trying to ignore the stares of his classmates after Odd's little outburst. Sadly, since he and Odd had come in together, there was no denying that the two knew each other. Odd noticed none of this; his concern lay solely with the meatballs.

"Say, can I get some more of these?" he asked Rosa, the lunch lady.

Rosa looked Odd up and down, and seemed inclined to say no, but then smiled kindly.

"I guess so, since you're so scrawny," she said.

"I AM NOT SCRAWNY," Odd snapped. "I'm svelte," he said, correctingly. Ulrich snickered behind his hand. "I'm svelte," Odd repeated, as if to reassure himself.

"Riiight," Ulrich said. The two made their way over to Jeremie's table.

"Hey guys," Ulrich said, and set his tray down across from Yumi and Jeremie. He then gestured toward Odd with his thumb. "This is Odd Della Robbia, my new roommate."

_So these are Ulrich's friends,_ Odd thought as he smiled widely at the two new people in front of him, a bespectacled blonde boy, and a dark haired girl. _Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed that. That girl's pretty hot, though. I wonder if she's dating Ulrich._

"Hi, Odd," the girl said with a smile. "I'm Yumi Ishiyama. It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand, and Odd shook it, smiled, and nearly winked at her, when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ulrich watching his every move, mouth set in a tight line.

_Uh-oh,_ Odd thought._ I must be stepping in on his territory._ He decided to back off, and with good reason. Odd didn't want any bad blood between himself and Ulrich; after all, they had to live together. Besides, Ulrich could probably beat him to a pulp, being not only a good deal taller than Odd, but also quite ripped. As if that weren't enough, Ulrich had mentioned on the walk from the dorms that the "Penchak Silat" that Odd had mistaken for a band was actually an Indonesian martial art that Ulrich practiced regularly. And, as a soccer player, Ulrich could probably run just as fast or faster than Odd.

_Note to self: Do not make Ulrich angry,_ Odd thought. _And Yumi is off-limits. _

The blonde boy's name was Jeremie, and he apparently was a genius, albeit a nice one. Conversation flowed naturally among this group. Yumi, although not a chatterbox, easily talked the most among the group and she and Odd discussed music and bands, with Ulrich inserting his opinion here and there. Odd noticed with interest that his new friend's brown eyes rarely left Yumi's face.

_I don't think they're going out, but there's definitely something going on between them,_ Odd decided. He noticed that Yumi glanced at Ulrich a lot too, and whenever they would get caught staring, each would look away and blush. _Ah, puppy love. How adorable._

"So," Yumi said, derailing Odd's train of thought. "How are the two of you getting along? Everything's well, I hope?"

Ulrich and Odd exchanged glances.

"Oh yeah," Odd said smoothly. "I'm really growing on Ulrich here."

"Yeah, like a fungus," Ulrich put in. Yumi burst out laughing and Jeremie soon joined her.

Odd made a face and put a hand to his chest.

"That hurt, Ulrich," he said, mock-sadly. "That hurt right here," he went on, tapping his index and middle finger where his heart lay. "Right here," he mouthed. Yumi and Jeremie laughed harder and Ulrich just grinned and shook his head.

"Hi Ulrich!" a shrill voice rang out. Odd caught the change in the gang's mood immediately. Jeremie sighed irritably, Yumi's dark brown eyes narrowed in displeasure, and Ulrich, the addressee, looked sick to his stomach, annoyed, and angry all at the same time.

Ulrich turned around and Odd followed his gaze to a tall dark haired girl completely decked out in, shall we say, _form-fitting_ pink clothing, flanked by an acne-ridden, scowling, greasy-looking version of Jeremie, and a stooped over, spacey, blonde.

Odd chuckled inwardly. _What a patheticlot thisbunch is._

"Do you need something, Sissi," Ulrich asked as politely as possible. Odd heard the thinly masked disgust in his voice.

The girl smiled as though she found Ulrich adorably naïve. "Of course not, silly. But you clearly need me." She looked at Ulrich conspiratorially then gestured toward Yumi and Jeremie with her head. "I've come to save you. Your popularity hasn't taken much of a hit yet, but if you keep hanging out with these losers, it won't last long."

Odd marveled at Sissi's logic. _Here she is, hanging out with Captain Oblivious and the leader of the Nerd Herd and she's talking to Ulrich about associating with losers? Somebody's a wee bit full of herself._

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Sissi," Yumi put in.

Sissi continued as if she hadn't heard Yumi.

"However, I am willing to help you out," she said graciously.

"Lucky me," Ulrich muttered, turning away from her and rolling his eyes at Odd, Yumi and Jeremie. Sissi heard this and completely misinterpreted it.

"I know. This is a wonderful opportunity for you," she said. "Anyway, I've come up with a fool-proof plan-."

"If it's fool proof, how'd you come up with it?" Ulrich interrupted to laughter among his three friends.

"Hey!" Sissi's pimply friend jumped in, pushing at Ulrich shoulder. He glared at Ulrich hatefully before speaking again. "Sissi's taking the time to come and try to help you- though God knows why, you're such a jerk-."

Ulrich quickly turned to Odd and the two burst into laughter.

"What the-." the boy said as everyone else looked on in confusion. "What's your problem?"

Ulrich struggled to regain his composure.

"Nothing, Herb. I just didn't know you felt that way about me, that's all," he said, losing it all over again. Odd, if at all possible, laughed harder and proceeded to fall off the bench, which of course made Ulrich laugh harder, to the point where they were both gasping for air. Yumi and Jeremie stared wide-eyed as Odd rolled around on the floor and Ulrich clutched his stomach, his face a brilliant shade of red.

"Somebody call the men in white coats," Jeremie said softly to Yumi. Even amid the racket he and Ulrich were making, Odd heard this and stopped laughing long enough to sit up, eyes wide and cheeks flushed, his spiky hair completing a very maniacal look.

"THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY, HAHA! THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY!" he shouted. Ulrich collapsed in fits and Jeremie and Yumi looked at each other and shook their heads. Clearly, they'd missed something.

"I can't breathe," Ulrich choked out.

"Stern! …uh… Other boy!" came a powerful voice. "What's the problem here?"

"Nothing, Jim," Yumi stepped in smoothly. "They just heard a really…_really_ funny joke, that's all." She motioned to Jeremie and the two moved toward the boys who still lay on the ground. Yumi offered a hand down to Ulrich, who took in and she pulled him up, and she and Jeremie quickly moved Odd and Ulrich out of the danger zone, i.e., away from Jim and Sissi.

"Okay, so, do either of you care explaining what just happened?" Yumi demanded once the four were outside.

Ulrich and Odd had finally stopped laughing at this point, though both still wore huge grins.

"Yeah, once Herb called Ulrich a jerk, you two just lost it," Jeremie said.

Ulrich and Odd futilely attempted to explain their previous incident and Odd's poem regarding the word jerk, but when they finished…

"…Oh… yeah… that's totally funny." Yumi said dryly. Jeremie just looked confused.

Ulrich waved his hand dismissively. "You missed it," he said.

"Yeah," Odd added. "You just had to be there."

Yumi gave Jeremie a look that said _whatever_ all over it. He smiled, and addressed Odd and Ulrich again. "For only knowing each other for a couple of hours, you two sure have a lot of in-jokes already," he remarked. Odd and Ulrich glanced at each other and shrugged.

The four walked along for awhile, chatting nonchalantly, before Yumi sighed.

"I'd better be going home, you guys."

A chorus of "Bye, Yumi"s sounded among the boys. Yumi smiled and waved as she turned to walk home, and Odd inwardly chuckled as he noticed Ulrich's eyes follow her all the way to the gate.

The three strolled around casually, thought not-very-seriously about seeing a movie, decided against it, and settled down in an open, grassy spot where Jeremie set up his laptop- just in case he needed it. Ulrich lay back with his hands behind his head, knees bent and feet flat on the ground. He and Jeremie began explaining to Odd the ins and outs of Kadic life. Jeremie mainly discussed which classes and instructors he found most intellectually stimulating, while Ulrich listed the people he thought Odd should avoid at all costs and which teachers were the quickest to hand out a detention. Neither boy mentioned what most concerned Odd-

"What about the girls? You know…" and he raised his eyebrows, mostly at Ulrich, since Odd found it extremely unlikely that Jeremie had any experience in the dating scene.

_Although,_ Odd thought, _Ulrich can't be much better. Look at him and Yumi! That's just pitiful._

Ulrich propped himself up on his elbows. "I said avoid Sissi," he reminded Odd.

Odd rolled his eyes. "Well no duh Ulrich. Avoid Sissi? Any idiot could figure that out." He grinned. "Otherwise, how would you have been able to tell me?"

Jeremie let out a laugh, but quickly stifled it following a glare from Ulrich.

"But seriously guys," Odd went on. "How is it around here. How's the… selection? On a scale of one to ten, what's the quality? …Are you following me?"

Jeremie snorted. "They're girls, Odd, not deli meats."

Ulrich grinned and lay back down.

"To tell you the truth, Odd, Jeremie and I aren't exactly the best people to ask about girls. I usually run from them, and, well…" he trailed off and glanced at Jeremie.

"They run from me," Jeremie finished matter-of-factly. Odd laughed. Ulrich looked as though he wanted to, but couldn't decide whether or not this would offend Jeremie, and soremainedwith his mouth twisted into a strange half-smile.

Suddenly Odd found opportunity to swing the conversation into a new direction.

"Well, that's not entirely true. What about Yumi? She doesn't run, and you don't run from her," he said.

Jeremie made a face. "Yumi's practically my sister, Odd. That's sick." Odd had guessed as much, and thus found Ulrich's suddenly beet red face much more interesting.

Odd liked to think he possessed a "sixth sense" of sorts when it came to male-female relationships. He could usually tell when someone had a crush on another person, and Ulrich's sudden embarrassment told Odd that he'd correctly guessed Ulrich's feelings regarding Yumi.

"Ulrich?" he said with a grin.

"I- what? We're friends!" Ulrich said too quickly, still blushing furiously.

Odd exchanged glances with Jeremie, who also grinned before focusing on his computer.

Seeing this, Ulrich insisted, " We're friends!"

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Odd assured him as Jeremie laughed softly. "You're… special friends. Really special. Really, _really_ special."

"NO!" Ulrich said forcefully. "We're just friends! Tell him, Jeremie!"

"Leave me out of it," his blonde friend replied. Ulrich's eyes shot daggers at Jeremie.

"We-are-just-friends!" Ulrich insisted again in a staccato manner. "A guy and a girl can be friends, you know."

"Relax, Ulrich; jeez, don't have a heart attack or anything. You and Yumi are friends. We get it," Odd calmly told a now heated Ulrich.

"You don't believe me," Ulrich shot back accusingly.

"Of course I believe you. Yumi's your best friend. That's obvious. Crystal clear. But don't expect me to believe that there isn't more to it than that. You've got the hots for her!"

Ulrich just stared at Odd with his deep brown eyes. He said nothing, and Odd smiled triumphantly. _I hit that nail on the head._ Ulrich blushed harder.

Ulrich recovered from his speechlessness to make a lame attempt at defending himself. "Well… so what if I do? It doesn't matter anyway."

Jeremie looked up. "Why's that?"

"Because she doesn't like me back," the brown haired boy replied, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. Jeremie shrugged with his eyebrows, and looked back at his laptop's monitor while Odd rolled his eyes, and smacked his forehead as if to say "Oh brother".

_Ulrich sure is clueless. And possibly blind. Does he really not see Yumi smiling at him all the time and laughing at his totally not funny jokes?_

"Are you absolutely positive? Have you asked her out?" Odd pressed on.

Ulrich stared at him, looking flustered and slightly embarrassed. "I… I don't want to talk about this anymore!" he sputtered. And he got up and walked away quickly.

Odd looked at Jeremie who was grinning his head off.

"So I guess that's a no?" he said. Jeremie nodded. He stood up and shook his head slightly and muttered something under his breath. Odd heard something to the effect of "so much drama" and he laughed.

"Catch you later, Einstein," Odd said as Jeremie began putting his laptop and various other possessions into his schoolbag.

"Yeah, see you," Jeremie replied, and the two parted ways.

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**So I guess this part wasn't particularly important. Oh, well. I'll try and update soon. Thanks to all my reviewers! The blue(ish… purple?) button is your friend…**

**-Skipperdee**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, well, I could tell you some sob story about how my computer broke down and how high school is more overwhelming than I expected it to be, but that sounds whiny, and whining is one of my pet peeves. So I'll just say I'm really, really sorry for dragging this on for close to a year. Oh and thank you inuyashas-numberone-girlfriend for continuing to remind me about this. I am mostly finishing this for you because I feel bad not doing so. Oh by the way I don't own CL Skipperdee**

Days turned into weeks and Ulrich, Jeremie, Odd, and Yumi grew closer- so close, in fact, that Odd's antics began to seem almost normal. Almost. Ulrich and Odd especially bonded, taking friendly jabs at each other about girls, intelligence, hygiene, and sappy phone calls from their mothers at every possible opportunity. For this Ulrich was thankful. He'd had plenty of friends before, but it was more the "You're-popular-I'm-popular-let's-hang-out" set. He could actually _talk_ about things to Odd and Jeremie, and Yumi too, although some subjects were significantly harder to broach with her than the guys. Girls, for example. Ulrich was not exactly the type of person to make a big production of his feelings. He didn't scream with joy or fly into a violent rage, and he certainly didn't cry. This said, it was highly unlikely that Ulrich would take Yumi's hand and announce his undying love for her, which is what Odd was always trying to get him to do.

"Sure, Odd," Ulrich said once. "I'll tell her right after we go ice-skating in the fiery pits of- well, never mind."

"Oh ice-skating, that's nice," Odd had said. "And what a romantic way to end a date." Ulrich rolled his eyes at the memory- Odd didn't always understand sarcasm.

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Another school week ended, and as usual, Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi had made plans. Yumi listened to her friends argue about which movie to see with a serene smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, Odd, but _The Ultra Death Machine Returns_ doesn't exactly sound like a cinematic masterpiece. I don't want to waste seven dollars on that."

"Don't knock it till you try it, Jeremie, that's all I'm saying. Besides, it's not like you'll do anything useful with that seven dollars, like, oh I don't know, lend it to me."

"That's because you haven't paid me back from when you were hungry and wanted that bag of candy last Tuesday."

"Well, I forgot okay? That doesn't have anything to do with _The Ultra Death Machine Returns_. Give me one good reason why we shouldn't see this movie."

"It's a giant killer robot. Enough said."

"You just don't want to see it because it puts electronics in a bad light, you… electronics-licker!" Yumi racked her brains for all meanings of the term "electronics-licker" and came up blank.

Ulrich had been listening quietly too, and at this point he glanced at Yumi and rolled his eyes.

"Electronics-licker?" she whispered. Ulrich nodded.

"I think it means Jeremie's so obsessed with electronics, that he'd lick them clean or something," he whispered back.

"Of course," Yumi said, enlightened. She rolled her eyes too as Odd and Jeremie continued to bicker. She studied Ulrich in silence when she thought he wasn't looking and smiled when he begged not to be dragged into the middle of the movie argument. "Guys, you've been arguing for so long, it's gotten too late for a movie. I actually need to be getting home," she cut in.

"I'll walk you," Ulrich immediately volunteered as Odd made a face at Jeremie and Jeremie, in a rare fit of infantile behavior, made one back. Ulrich and Yumi walked away quickly, but upon distancing themselves from their friends, they slowed their pace, idly chatting about school, their friends, themselves, and life in general. Their step became progressively slower the closer they came to Yumi's home, but short of changing directions, they couldn't prevent their eventual arrival. Ulrich accompanied Yumi to the door, and the two said goodbye. Ulrich turned to leave when the door flew open.

"Dad!" Yumi gasped. "You startled me." Mr. Ishiyama said nothing; he fixed his gaze on Ulrich, who'd whirled around in shock.

"Who is this, Yumi?" he said, much more calmly than Yumi would've expected under the circumstances.

"Um, well, this is Ulrich Stern. I told you about him and the rest of my friends, remember? He was just walking me home," Yumi explained.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Ulrich put in politely.

"Hmm. Yes, yes, it's about time I find out who my daughter is spending every spare minute with. What are you like, Ulrich? Do you participate in any extra-curriculars? How are your grades? Have you had any run-ins with the law? Do you do any drugs? Are you getting my daughter in any trouble?" Ulrich's eyes widened in surprise. He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again, still trying to wrap his brain around the questions.

"Dad, enough with the third degree," Yumi said, her face pinkening. He ignored her.

"Well, Ulrich?"

Ulrich took a deep breath and shook himself mentally. _You've done nothing wrong_, he reminded himself. "Uh, well, sir, I play on the soccer team. My grades aren't so hot, but I'm clean, no criminal record. We haven't gotten in any trouble yet," Ulrich managed to get out.

"YET!" Mr. Ishiyama nearly shouted.

"Not that we will!" Ulrich frantically tried to repair the situation, realizing his mistake a little too late.

Yumi tried to push her father back in the house. "Come on Dad. See you later Ulrich."

"You start bringing my daughter back earlier!" Mr. Ishiyama called over his shoulder as he stumbled back indoors, Yumi right on his heels. She looked back apologetically and Mr. Ishiyama slammed the door shut.

Ulrich stood on the porch, dazed.

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The next day was Sunday, which meant no school for "The Gang", as they were now collectively known. Yumi slept in for an hour and woke up well rested and ready to go do something. She ate breakfast and hung around her house until 10:00, when she told her parents that she was going to hang out with Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie.

Mr. Ishiyama began to protest. "Yumi, you were just with those boys last night! Why can't you play with your brother?"

"Ew, no!" Hiroki called from the other room.

"Go away, Hiroki!" Yumi yelled. The little boy ran upstairs, sticking his tongue out at his sister as he went.

"We hardly even know them," Mr. Ishiyama continued.

"Shhh," Mrs. Ishiyama hissed.

"Daddy! You've met Jeremie, and Ulrich, too, when he walked me home last night. Or perhaps you've forgotten your little interrogation?"

"Don't speak to me that way, young lady."

"Why don't you trust me?" Yumi kicked a kitchen chair angrily.

"I trust _you_, it's those boys I don't trust"-

"Why don't you trust me to make good decisions about the people I hang out with, then?" Yumi countered.

"Shh, calm down, both of you. Yumi, you may go. Be back in time for supper," Mrs. Ishiyama told her daughter. Yumi smiled triumphantly.

"Thanks Mom." She walked outside and hesitated a moment before closing the door. Strains of her parents' argument drifted to her from the kitchen and her heart sank. She hadn't meant for them to fight over her. The Ishiyamas' home situation was volatile enough without her adding to the problem. Yumi looked up to Hiroki's upstairs window and suddenly regretted yelling at him and driving her parents to bicker. _Poor kid. He's up there playing and he can probably hear every word they're saying. _Yumi bit her lip. _Sorry, Hiroki. _She rubbed her temples, trying to relieve the dull ache in her head caused by the stress of the morning and her newfound guilt, silently vowing to make it up to Hiroki somehow.

Yumi tried not to let this ruin her mood and she pulled out her mobile. She punched a few numbers and waited as the other line rang.

"Hello?" Ulrich answered and Yumi smiled at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, Ulrich."

"Oh, hey, Yumi. What's up?"

"My parents are at it again."

"Oh," he said, and he sounded so sad, one would've thought the Ishiyamas were his parents too. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Not really. It was my fault this time," Yumi said.

"Don't say that."

"It's true! I asked if I could go hang out with you guys and my dad said no, so we started arguing and then my mom cut in and said I could go and now they're fighting. I feel awful. And even worse, I left Hiroki all by himself and he gets really upset when my parents fight. I'm a terrible older sister."

"No, you're not Yumi. You're great, and Hiroki knows that it wasn't your fault."

"I'm supposed to protect him though! He-"

"He'll be fine, Yumi. I promise. Soon this will all be just a memory."

"I don't think I want to remember this," Yumi said softly.

Ulrich didn't speak for a moment, then: "Is there anything I can do?"

Yumi smiled slightly at Ulrich's concern for her.

"No, I'm alright," she said. "I just want to forget about it for awhile."

"If you're sure…"

"I am. Get Odd and Jeremie and meet me somewhere."

" 'Kay. We'll meet you in the woods."

"Alright. Oh and Ulrich?"

"Yeah?" he said.

"Thanks."

Ulrich stayed quiet for a moment before speaking again.

"Any time, Yumi. I mean it."


	9. Chapter 9

**I still don't own CL**

The three boys met Yumi in the woods and all four of them strolled casually along, taking in the beautiful Sunday. Yumi was quieter than usual, her arms folded across her chest, and Ulrich glanced at her occasionally, wondering if he should say something more. While it was _much _easier to talk to Yumi on the phone, he wouldn't just leave a friend in need hanging. He came up beside her and gently touched the back of her arm. Yumi jumped, startled, and then, seeing a concerned Ulrich looking back at her, murmured insistently "I'm fine!" He opened his mouth to reply when Odd shouted,

"Hey! Don't get too cozy back there!" He grinned like a Cheshire cat, walking backward about ten yards in front of them. Ulrich's eyes shot daggers at his friend, and Yumi ducked her head, letting her dark hair mask her telltale flushed cheeks.

Suddenly, Jeremie, who had up until this point been observing nature and trying to think of witty comebacks to Odd's jokes, shouted, "Odd! Watch out!"

But it was too late. A look of fear crossed Odd's face as he stumbled and the ground seemed to swallow him whole.

"Odd!" Ulrich darted forward.

"He fell down there," Jeremie said, pointing to an uncovered manhole.

"Oh my gosh, Odd! Are you okay?" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yup," came a voice from below. Ulrich started laughing. "What's so funny?" Odd called up.

"Only you could be in the middle of the woods and fall into an open manhole," Ulrich said, still chuckling.

Yumi smiled too. "I always thought that could only happen in movies."

"Ahhhh! That would've been amazing! Picture this- a boy falls into another world with a giant head-eating monster that bears a striking resemblance to Sissy Delmas. Throw in a couple car chases and it's cinematic genius! We have to come back here and reenact this, guys," Odd said enthusiastically.

"Oh super," Jeremie muttered, and Yumi giggled.

"You know, it's not as bad down here as you might think," Odd continued.

Jeremie made a face. "You're joking, right?"

"Not at all. Sure it's a little damp, but it isn't filthy and overrun with the sort of things I used to put in girls' lunchboxes when they weren't looking."

Yumi wrinkled her nose. "Nice."

"Say, let's explore it!" Odd said excitedly. Jeremie immediately began shaking his head no, as Yumi looked at him in consternation. Ulrich, on the other hand, actually appeared to be considering it.

"I'm game," he said finally, positioning himself over the hole. "All clear?" he called down.

"Roger that," came Odd's reply, and Ulrich dropped down next to him.

"Odd! Why didn't you tell me there was a ladder?" Ulrich yelled.

"You didn't ask," Odd replied. "C'mon guys!" he said, addressing Jeremie and Yumi.

"I'll go if you will," Jeremie said. Yumi sighed in resignation and climbed down the ladder Ulrich had mentioned, Jeremie right behind her. _I can't believe we're spending our free day tramping around in a sewer. _

The four friends walked along the sewer line. As Odd had said, it wasn't quite as bad as one might think, though Yumi wouldn't admit that to Odd. They hadn't walked for very long when Jeremie suddenly "Hey look! Another ladder!"

"Thank goodness. Let's get out of here," Yumi said and she climbed back into the daylight. She found herself on a relatively deserted street near the river. A bridge spanned the river, connecting the street on which Yumi stood to the entrance of a large abandoned looking building.

"Cool! Check out that building!" Odd exclaimed. "Let's explore it."

"You're all about exploring today, aren't you?" Ulrich remarked. Yumi elbowed him.

"Shut up. Better a building than a sewer." Ulrich grinned and they and Jeremie followed Odd across the bridge.

"Isn't this breaking and entering?" Jeremie said skeptically as they walked though the entrance.

"Probably," Odd called over his shoulder.

"Well technically, we don't have to breaking in, so we're really just entering," Ulrich said.

"That's called trespassing. It's a criminal offense," Jeremie retorted.

"Oh come on, Jeremie. Look around. Do you really think anyone's going to care?" Jeremie shrugged.

"So… where shall we go first?" Yumi asked.

"Let's split up, gang!" Odd said. "I'll go this way. You guys fan out. If you find something cool, yell "I FOUND SOMETHING COOL!" really, really loudly."

"Got it," Jeremie said. Ulrich nodded.

"Be careful, though, guys. This place is old. It could be dangerous," Yumi warned.

"Oh Yumi, don't be such a wet blanket," Odd admonished. "We'll be fine." He turned and ran off. Yumi sighed. Jeremie and Ulrich had already wandered off, so she figured she might as well too.

Yumi idly walked around, not touching anything. After awhile, she decided the building had once been a factory, though what it'd made she had no idea. She wandered onto a balcony of sorts and glanced down. The space beneath her was completely barren, though it had a few open exits. Despite herself, Yumi was actually enjoying the gang's adventure, and as much as she didn't want to jump down off the balcony to the floor 30 feet beneath her, she did want to see where the exits led. She debated the pros and cons of each then heard a noise and looked up to see a familiar brown haired boy not too far from her.

"Ulrich!" she called out, and he turned and jogged toward her.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"Nope. But there's 2 exits down there that probably lead somewhere," she said, pointing. "I think that one goes outside, but I don't know about the other one."

"Let's go look," Ulrich said.

"Well, I'd love to, but explain to me how we're supposed to get down from here. We can't jump, unless you want to break your neck."

"Eh, not really," Ulrich replied, running a hand over his hair. He glanced around, then pointed at two ropes hanging from the ceiling to the floor. "Those'll work though. C'mon."

Yumi followed him as he swung down to the floor and the two walked through the exit. A little farther and they entered a room with three golden/brass tubes that had doors on them. In the middle of the room sat a mound with a device on top that looked a bit like a steering wheel.

"What in the world..." Yumi said softly.

"Boiler room, do you think?" Ulrich asked, and he looked at Yumi.

"Strangest looking boilers I've ever seen," she replied.

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Meanwhile Odd had journeyed off by himself and come across an elevator shaft. _Elevator shaft elevator_, he thought, and sure enough, one came up when he pressed the red button. Yumi's warning briefly popped into Odd's head, but he brushed it off quickly and stepped inside the elevator. _I hope thing doesn't break. That would completely stink. Yumi'd never let me live it down if she had to come rescue me. _He randomly chose a button, pressed it, and waited while the elevator grindingly transported him to another floor. The doors opened and Odd gasped slightly.

"Cool," he breathed. There standing in front of him was a rather impressive generator-type thing, which would have been a little neat by itself, but what really struck Odd as interesting was the fact that the generator was on and appeared to be fully operational. _Wait 'til Jeremie sees this._

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Jeremie wandered through the factory at his own pace, slightly bored. Exploring wasn't really his thing. _Unless it was the Internet or something interesting,_ he amended. Old abandoned buildings, however, just did not capture his attention. He did stop once in awhile to inspect something on a closer level, but he had yet to find anything interesting. _At least Ulrich's not making us play soccer._ Jeremie had been the victim of many accidental soccer-ball-in-face incidents thanks to his more exuberant and athletic friend, and if he never endured another "friendly scrimmage" in his life, it would be way too soon.

Jereime walked down a hallway and suddenly heard a very faint hum. He followed the noise into a room, where he stopped dead in his tracks. In the center of the room stood the largest, most sophisticated computer system Jeremie'd ever seen- and it was on. He practically ran to it and sat down and marveled at not only its size but also its obvious power. _This is so cool_.

"Hello?" A female voice jarred Jeremie out of his thoughts and he whipped around, expecting to see Yumi. No one was there.

"Hello?" Jeremie called out. "Yumi?"

"Did you say something? Hello? Is someone there?" Jeremie spun back around. He was alone with the computer, so unless… _No. Impossible. Don't be ridiculous, Jeremie, _he told himself.

"Please!" the voice called out plaintively. "If anyone's there, please answer!"

Feeling like an idiot, Jeremie leaned forward. "Uhh… hello?"

"Oh! Thank goodness you're there. I-"

"Who are you?" Jeremie interrupted. "And where are you?"

"My name is Aelita. I live in a computer world- a virtual reality, if you will."

"Virtual reality?" Jeremie replied skeptically.

"Mm-hmm," Aelita said. "It's called Lyoko. You should find plenty of information files on the supercomputer." She gave him some instructions, and sure enough, he pulled up files detailing the existence of a virtual reality reality by the name of Lyoko.

"This is crazy," Jeremie said to himself.

"It's hard to believe, I know, but it's real. I'm real."

"Now when you say real… what exactly does that mean? You're not- I mean, how… are you human?"

"I'm a humanoid AI. Do you know what that means?" she said.

"Of course I do," Jeremie replied, somewhat affronted by the insinuation. "I just… I know all about, uh, your kind, but I've never actually come across one before."

"There's a first time for everything. Is the monitor on?"

"Just a minute." Jeremie fiddled with the computer for a few moments, and the black screen became a colorful picture with a young lifelike female in the foreground. The girl- Aelita, he assumed,- waved and smiled at him.

_She's pretty sophisticated,_ Jeremie thought. He'd always pictured AI's to be stiff and robotic, but Aelita sounded as much like a human female as Yumi did. She looked like one too- except for the shock of cropped bubble gum pink hair framing her heart-shaped face. Jeremie wondered how weird it was to think a non-human being was pretty. _Better not broadcast that around_, he decided.

"So… Aelita. What… how do… why are you…?" Jeremie stopped and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. For once he had so many questions he didn't even know what to ask first.

The figure on the screen smiled sympathetically. "I know it's a lot to process. Do any major questions stick out?"

"Only about a million!" Jeremie said excitedly. Imagine- a virtual world! It was a dream come true for a computer "enthusiast", as Jeremie liked to call himself. He pored over the documents Aelita had showed him while she waited in silence.

"What's this XANA thing?" he said after 10 minutes of quiet, and Aelita sighed.


End file.
